


Change Her Mind

by onlyhereforellick



Series: Back Off [3]
Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, angst but not as much, ellickweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23825554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyhereforellick/pseuds/onlyhereforellick
Summary: Every interaction between the two, re-evaluated. Every look, revisited. Every jab and every soft compliment, replayed.
Relationships: Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres
Series: Back Off [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710991
Comments: 8
Kudos: 40





	Change Her Mind

**Author's Note:**

> “You’re in love with her.”
> 
> DAY FIVE

McGee’s words ran through his mind like a tornado swirling every old piece of junk and priceless momento airborne, causing direct chaos and indirect pain.

Every thought, every belief he’d ever had about his and Ellie’s relationship was coming under question.

Every interaction between the two, re-evaluated. Every look, revisited. Every jab and every soft compliment, replayed.

_Did she truly believe they were better apart?_  
_Did she think they’d already crashed and burned?_

But most importantly-

_Did she still love him?_

Nick worried he’d be too late, that she’d have moved on, had finally given up on the back and forth that seemed to plague them over the last several years.

The elevator slowed to its stop at the parking garage and the doors slid open, yet Nick’s feet stayed glued to the floor. Only when they began to close again, did his mind jump into action as his arm instinctively shot out, stopping their path. In a trance, Nick made his way to his motorcycle on autopilot, pausing when he noticed the spot he parked in that morning.

As if transported to a year earlier, Nick realized it was the same spot he parked in the day he’d been drugged. Remembered clearly the doubt in Ellie’s voice. Remembered the pit of despair that settled in his stomach when he heard her echo his own thoughts. The moment those words left her lips, voicing his deepest fear, the blind anger clouded his vision- and his rational judgement. Thinking back to those tense days between them, Nick picked up on an emotion he’d ignored—disappointment. And not in Ellie for accusing him of murder, but disappointment that he potentially let her down. That he was becoming the man he’d always envisioned himself to be, and that it would scare her off. Yet, what he should’ve seen then, but ignored due to the hurt, she’d been terrified for him, not of him. Maybe when her heart wanted to take over, she told her head to run the show. Nick had missed it then, but damn he wouldn’t let her head take over now- not if her heart was screaming for him.

Throwing a leg over and slamming his helmet on, he revved his engine. Nick would fight for her, he would.

_Hell, it was his only chance at this point._

Wind whipping past his face and those words brought him back to an even more depressing memory.

 _Clay_.

He’d almost forgotten their joking conversation turned serious that day after work.

_“You owe me, Nick!” Clay exclaimed._

_Nick scoffed at his words, Bishop’s brothers really weren’t scary._

_“Seriously- it’s about the guy code. You don’t do that, you don’t throw another guy to the wolves,” he said firmly._

_Nick looked up at the guy as they waited at the bar for their drinks. Conceding, Nick chuckled, “Fine, fine. My bad, man. First round’s on me,” as he gestured to the empty bar in front of them._

_Clay shrugged and folded his arms as his face slowly twisted into an almost conniving expression- it worried Nick more than the pseudo-anger he’d been showing just moments before._

_Nick questioned him as a wicked spark gleamed in his eye, “Whaaaat?” he drew out the word cautiously._

_His head turned slowly till he was looking Nick square in the eye, his voice was smug and it gritted on Nick’s nerves, “You’re in love with her.”_

_It wasn’t a question, it was a simple statement of fact. Not up for debate, more so a realization as if all the pieces had clicked into place._

_Nick was speechless, mouth hanging slightly open as he tried to process his supposed best friend’s words._

_Clay’s smile grew as his excitement did, “Oh my god, you’re in love with her. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” He’d casually smacked Nick’s upper arm as the epiphany landed. “Why else would you go against guy code? It’s literally the only reason. Bloody hell, that makes so much sense.” Wide-eyed taking in Nick’s motionless expression, he continued,_ _“And! It’s why you were jealous earlier. You’re jealous of whoever is dating Bishop.” His voice dropped in awe, as he whispered again, “Wow. You’re in love with her.”_

_Nick’s brilliant ass decided denial was a good route, a high pitched scoff mixed with his classic, “WhaAaat? I am not.”_

_He cringed inwardly, even he noticed he sounded like a petulant teenager._

_Clay didn’t even bite the debate, he ignored his denial like it hadn’t even been spoken. His voice turned serious- all humor and jokes forgotten, “Look mate, don’t sit on this. You love Ellie, and you know Ellie. She won’t wait around forever- she doesn’t deserve to. You’re in love with her, forget she’s with someone_ _else, this may be your only chance- who knows, she could end up marrying the guy. Don’t back off now.”_

Nick shook his head at the onslaught of emotions. The chilling words remembered of a dear friend lost. The irony they held when Nick heard of Qasim’s proposal. The guilt felt when Ellie lost him. The implication disregarded by Nick until just now.

_Had he blown his only chance three years ago? Had all hope vanished by now?_

Arriving at his destination, Nick stomped the kickstand down and tugged off his helmet. A brief pause to collect his muddled thoughts. Looking up from his hands resting on the helmet, he stared straight ahead, unseeing. Blinking back to the present, he found himself parked outside Ellie’s favorite coffee shop. Subconsciously stopping here to gather peace offerings before continuing on to her place.

Nick’s body moved on its own accord, thankfully. Leg swinging over, feet taking him up the walk to reach the frosted glass door entrance. Eyes searched the rustic contemporary store—wooden floors, white paint with bronzed industrial fixtures—nose assaulted by the aroma of rich flavors, hints of hazelnut and berries mixing pleasantly. His gaze landed on a waterfall of familiar golden waves, tips dancing along the middle of her tapered back as she shook her head back and forth. The bubble of carefree laughter drowning out all other noise.

Clay’s voice whispered in his memory, “ _She won’t wait around forever- she doesn’t deserve to...you’re in love with her_ —“ mixing with McGee’s words only hours ago, “ _It might just change her mind_ —“ drove Nick’s feet forward to Ellie.


End file.
